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Across ocean and decades: US student’s message in a bottle written in 1997 discovered in France
The message in bottle was discovered by a 71-year-old fisherman in France.
In early October 1997, fifth grader Benjamin Lyons from Massachusetts and his classmates wrote brief notes, placed them into bottles, and threw them into Nantucket Sound, an area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from Massachusetts, under the guidance of their science teacher Frederic J. Hemmila. And now, 26 years later, one of those messages has been discovered in France.
While all the students grew up and graduated, one of the messages finally received a reply. Assistant Principal Anna Dunphy shared that she received a letter last week from fisherman Hubert Eriau, 71, who found the bottle. The bottle was found on August 11 on a beach in Les Sables-d’Olonne, Vendée, France, reports The Enterprise.
Lyons wrote the message as part of an assignment. The message was sealed with wax and read, “Please open, message inside.” The short note from Lyons described the assignment and asked whoever found it to send a message back and share where and when it was found. (Also Read: Message from 1989 hidden inside a plastic bottle, recovered)
NBC10 Boston did track Ben Lyons. In a statement, he said, “It’s great the kids can learn about the oceans and currents from this. Showing what a small world it actually is. We’ve had fun reading the different articles and the interest this has generated.”
